Major League Baseball is heading back to the diamond for its Field of Dreams game Aug. 13 in Iowa. Along with the bats, balls, and corn stalks will be a John Deere tractor from Ontario. Dave McEachren has been a collector of John Deere tractors produced in Dubuque, IA, and now has about 60 in his McEachren Collection at his Forty-87 museum at his property near Glencoe.
Why it matters
A collection built one tractor at a time in Middlesex County is now part of Major League Baseball’s biggest night of the summer.
As a longtime collector of John Deere memorabilia, McEachren is a member of the worldwide Classic Green group. Through that group, he has friends at John Deere. They reached out to him, looking for him to display one of his tractors made at Dubuque, about a half-hour drive away from Dyersville, the site of the Field of Dreams stadium.
“When you get that call, you don’t say no,” said McEachren.
One of 35, parked by the movie house
His 1955 John Deere 40 Hi Crop all-fuel tractor is one of only 35 made. It is sitting in front of the house made famous in the Field of Dreams movie, one of four John Deere antique tractors on the site showing different eras of John Deere history. John Deere has a partnership with Major League Baseball, as the organization’s official tractor, official lawn mower and official lawn care equipment partner, and is the presenting sponsor of this year’s game. The partnership builds on MLB’s agricultural roots behind the upkeep of ballfields and green spaces.
A Canadian novel, an Iowa cornfield
The stadium, built on the farm where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed, hosts its first major league game after four years of construction and renovation at the site. Field of Dreams, based on a book written by Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella, is about an Iowa farmer who follows a mysterious voice that tells him “If you build it, he will come”, prompting the farmer to build a ball diamond in his corn field.
The Aug. 13 game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, will mark the third Field of Dreams game at the site since 2021.
No ticket for the man who sent the tractor
McEachren and his fiancée Laura Downey are in Iowa while his tractor’s on display, touring other John Deere collections, but he won’t be at the baseball game. He requested tickets in exchange for bringing the tractor, but was told the tickets are allocated only to Iowa residents under a strict lottery. He’s heard prices range from $600 to $3,500. The stadium seats about 8,000 people, about a fifth of most major league ball parks.
Dyersville is where Ertl, formerly Ertl Company, first started making its farm toys, so there’s lots in the area for a collector to do.
John Deere started making tractors at Dubuque in 1947, with the M two-cylinder tractor, moving on to the 40, 420 and 430 line, which were the last of the two-cylinders made there.
Orange, yellow and every colour but green
McEachren says the diversity of the tractors made at Dubuque is what draws him to collect them. The lines had seven or eight available chassis, and they were sold for industrial uses, so were shipped out of the factory in colours like orange and yellow, not just green.
“They painted them almost every colour you can imagine back then to sell a tractor. Those being documented with special paint jobs was also an intrigue of mine,” he said.
They also came powered by gasoline, liquid propane and all-fuel, which means it could run on cheaper fuels like kerosene.
McEachren retired from farming 2021, but still helps his father out on his farm. He now teaches across the province for the Ontario Fire College. His museum is open when they are home and he regularly welcomes groups in for tours.
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